Journey to the Centre of the Rabbit Hole?
by Mighty Ancalagon the Black
Summary: Lukas is late getting to his friend's place one evening. He explains why. It was a really weird night for all involved.


"Where should I start?"

"Start right after the end of the phone call."

"Right. So I was whizzing along the bike trails, empty in the moonlight. Nothing to be heard but the wind rushing in my ears and the squeaking of my bike tires. The sounds magnified as I coasted through the egg-shaped underpass, but when I came out the other side, the sudden blinding sunlight threw off my balance, flinging me off my bike.

Cuts stinging, I looked around the strange place I'd somehow ended up in. It was a sunlit cavern, with tunnels leading off in every direction. But what with the confusion of crashing my bike, I had no idea which one I'd come in. The place was still and silent, and the only movement was my bike's tire, which slowly spun to a squeaky stop. Then I heard a distant thumping noise, which got louder and closer, until something large and grey shot out of one tunnel and into another, and was gone. I figured that if the grey blur went down that tunnel, there must be something worth going to. So, with no better ideas, I hauled myself to my feet, picked up my bike and limped after it.

The tunnel went on for quite some time, and my ankle was starting to swell and throb. _Rhys will probably be wondering where I am by now_ I thought. I'd been on my way to your place for some late night gaming when all this happened, as you know. Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a massive sun-filled cavern with numerous tunnels leading back out. There was no one in sight. The place was practically a warren.

'Oh great. _Now _how'm I supposed to find my way home?' My voice echoed faintly, and was suddenly answered by the grinding of heavy stone on stone. Three giant stone eggs with angry faces popped up from the grass and started waddling towards me.

The nearest one lunged at me. I made to step back, but my ankle gave out and I fell on my bike, scratching my thigh. This was turning into a really shitty night. The egg turned and tried to shove me again. I pushed myself backwards into the grass. Right into the second egg."

"Crap."

"Yeah. I rolled to my feet, grabbed my bike, and picked a tunnel. I started limping away as fast as I could, which was fortunately slightly faster than the eggs. Before long, I came out in an _even bigger _cavern. With more giant stone eggs."

"Double crap."

"I was quickly surrounded. The eggs herded me with my bike down another tunnel at the far end of the massive cavern. This eventually led into a slightly smaller cavern. I figured I'd been down under here for about two hours now. Yeah, Rhys was probably worried.

The first thing I noticed about this new cavern was the weird-coloured rivers. The next thing I noticed, after the lead egg moved aside, was the giant grey rabbit, standing on his hind legs, holding two boomerangs and glaring at me.

His glare lessened slightly as he commented, 'Your leg is bleedin', mate.'

Just then I noticed the blood trickling out from under my shorts. 'Oh.' I stated intelligently. And then my leg gave out. I lowered myself to the ground, hanging on to my bike. The rabbit sheathed his boomerangs.

'How's about we stop ya from gettin' blood all over my warren first, and then we _discuss _what you're doin' down here, yeah?' The rabbit's frown didn't ease in the slightest, even as he sent the giant eggs away and helped me sit up on a rock.

'Sounds like a plan,' I replied, gritting my teeth as the pain finally hit. After he had bandaged my leg and ankle, I finally asked, 'So where the hell am I anyway?'

'Ya mean ya don't know? You're in the Warren, home of the Easter Bunny.' "

"The EASTER BUNNY!?"

"Yeah, the Easter Bunny. So anyway, then I was all like: 'You're the easter bunny?' The rabbit straightened.

'E. Aster Bunnymund. In the flesh. Were you expecting someone else?'

'Not really. I've never really believed the stories of the easter bunny.'

'Then how can you see me?'

'What do ya mean? You're standing right in front of me.'

'Only people who believe in the Guardians can see us.'

'The Guardians? Who're they?'

Bunnymund was looking rather baffled by this point. He cleared his throat. 'Right, let's go back to the beginning. It all started with the Man in the Moon and the boogeyman. The Man in the Moon saw all the fear the boogeyman was spreading. all of the darkness. That's why he chose four people to protect the wonder, memories, dreams, and hopes of the most vulnerable: the children. These four became the Guardians of Childhood. You've probably heard of us: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and me, the Easter Bunny. Together we defeated Pitch Black, the boogeyman,and kept him at bay for hundreds of years. Recently we've had a new addition: Jack Frost, the Guardian of Fun. Little larrikin, that one. But there's a catch to being a Guardian. We draw on the strength of our believers, if they stop believing, we fade away. So only those that believe in us can see us. Normally. Which brings us to you.'

'Yeeaah, I got no clue.' I shrugged.

'So how'd ya wind up down here? I'm not in the habit of leaving tunnels open for intruders to wander in.' He looked down at me intimidatingly. I shrugged, unintimidated.

'Weird birthmark ya got there.' He commented, pacing in front of me.

I reached up to touch it. 'What does that have to do with anythin'?'

'Birthmarks can mean a lot, ya know. Some people believe they might be markers of ancient power, passed down through generations.'

'That's dumb. Wouldn't everyone in the family have the same mark then?'

'Not if it's a recessive trait.'

'So... what? I've randomly got ancient magical powers that let me see things others can't that are connected to the birthmark on my face? Sounds like the start of some crappy anime.' I flopped back on the rock. This night was getting quite frustrating. I just wanted to go to my friend's place and play videogames, for chrissake!

'Best theory I got. However ya got here, ya can't stay. Where are ya from?'

'Melbourne, Australia. I was going to my friend's place, near Rockbank.'

'Right. Can ya walk?'

'I'll manage.' _Wonder what he'd do if I'd said no..._ I thought offhandedly as we started back down the tunnel I'd come from. When we got to the massive cavern, I noticed the silhouettes of continents displayed over the large tunnels."

"Wait, so all the tunnels go to different continents?"

"That's what I asked."

"How!?"

"I dunno. Magic, probably."

"So where'd the scratches on your face come from?"

"I'm getting there, mate. So right as we were heading towards the Australia tunnel, a gangly creature with red eyes shot out of the Europe tunnel, screeching and came right at us, followed by a flying white-haired boy holding a shepherd's crook. _Jack Frost,_ I assumed. Bunnymund was already moving to attack by the time it reached us. Me, I just froze. I don't know how to fight monsters that aren't made of pixels. It raked its nails across my face. I fell backwards, blood obscuring my left eye. The three spots of my birthmark seemed to pulse with warmth. The creature was about to pounce on me again when a boomerang came flying out of nowhere and knocked it a good one in the head. It whirled around, trying to find its new attacker, only to be met with a face full of snow. I'd covered my left eye with my hand to stem the bleeding, but I realized right then that I could still see out of both eyes perfectly. My birthmark continued to spread warmth across my face. Magical powers were starting to seem more likely.

Jack Frost blasted the creature with ice, completely encasing it. It seemed to almost dissolve within it's new icicle.

'Is everyone gonna sneak into my warren tonight?' Bunnymund griped as he re-sheathed his boomerangs. 'What the bloody hell was that thing, anyway?'

'That was a Baubas. I found it in Lithuania, scaring kids and hiding in shadows.' Jack Frost replied. 'I think it may have been working with Pitch.'

'You got anythin' ta wipe this blood up with?' I interrupted.

Bunny pointed warning finger at Jack. 'Don't drag fights into my tunnels ever again.' Then he hopped off, presumably to get some cloth or something.

Jack turned to me. 'How can you see us if you're an adult.' He said, getting right to the point.

'Hi. my name's Lukas, thank you for asking. Apparently I have magical powers or some shit.'

'Ya dismissed that earlier as crap, but now you're suddenly willin' ta believe it?' Bunny accused, handing me a wet cloth.

'Well, I am currently lookin' out of the eye that I'm covering, so yeah.' I started wiping off the already clotting blood.

'Wait, what?' Jack leaned on his staff.

'I can see things normal people can't. And I can see through a closed eye. It's pretty weird.'

'Yeah, that is. I gotta go. Where's the quickest way up?' Jack turned, picking up his staff. Bunny opened up a hole with the thump of his foot, and Jack jumped down it and vanished.

So once my face stopped bleedin', which was really quick, we finally made it back to the surface and came here. Then the Easter Bunny ran off. And that's why I'm three hours late."

"Wow. It's like you fell into some kinda fantasy video game, man."

"Yeah, it was wild."

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"Well I gotta get my bike fixed tomorrow." Rhys chucked a pillow at Lukas' head.

"I meant about the whole magic powers thing, dumbass."

"I dunno. I'll figure it out later. Hey, can I crash here tonight? It's too late to walk home now, and my bike's busted."

"Yeah, no problem, mate."

"Cool."


End file.
